Over the last few years, I have taken several trips to Haiti. Our church has participated in sponsoring an orphanage, and we even started a new 501c3 called the Haitian Children’s Ministry. This ministry is a passion of mine.

I was in Haiti a few weeks ago and was on the campus of Mission of Hope, Haiti. Mission of Hope is a wonderful organization that is doing some tremendous things in that country.

One of the most significant things they do is deliver 93,000 meals every day to children in orphanages and schools. I was able to visit the warehouse where they keep the food and witnessed first hand the children being provided the meals. The sad fact is that there are still 70,000 more children on Mission of Hope’s waiting list. If they had the capacity to distribute more food they would.

When I came back from Haiti, I wanted to be a part of that effort to get these 70,000 kids off the waiting list. We contacted another organization called Numana that works with Mission of Hope to provide a portion of these meals.

On June 3 we are planning a meal packing event with Numana in our community (Old Bridge, NJ) that will generate 20,000 more meals for Mission of Hope. We need to raise $6,000 to make this event a reality. These 20,000 meals will be packaged in 93 boxes. That means each box will cost approximately $65. That is less than what it costs me to take my family to dinner at a nice restaurant. But with this $65, I can feed a family in Haiti for two months.

This is where I ask for your help. If you live in NJ or a bordering state, you are welcome to join us on June 3. I realize that most people reading this will not be able to physically join us, but I ask if you might prayerfully consider helping make this happen by donating to purchase one of the 93 boxes. For every 30 cents donated, one more meal is packed for a child in need.

My hope is that we will be able to package much more the 93 boxes. I am praying that we could at least double that number. But it is 93 boxes that are the minimum we need to make this happen. The number of boxes we can pack is based on the funds we will be able to raise. Again, thank you for your prayerful consideration. God’s blessings.

UPDATE: Due to the overwhelming response and generosity of so many, we have set a new goal of 80,000 meals. We are thrilled to be able to feed even more children. Thank you for your help.

Questions to Consider

Plan of Action

Ask for help.

Find a prayer partner. Ask them to pray for you personally. Share with them things you are personally struggling with.

Participate with God’s family in Maundy Thursday Worship.

Reflection

Today is Maundy Thursday. It was on this day that Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples. This was an extremely difficult day for Jesus. Everything was coming to a head. He was betrayed by Judas, abandoned by the disciples, arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, denied by Peter, and put on trial before the religious leaders.

In agony he prayed that night, “Father, take this cup of suffering from me.” As he prayed his sweat became drops of blood. The weight of the world was bearing down on him. It was a cry of distress.

There are times when it seems the weight of the world comes crashing down on us. Other times we may not feel such tremendous weight, but at any given time we are bearing certain hurts, struggles, and trials we are going through. Yet many times we play a game and pretend that everything is okay. We are asked how we are doing and we responded by saying: “good.” We want to present the perfect “Christmas card picture” with the happy family where life is great.

As a pastor I will often ask people how I can pray for them. Most often the response I get is a request to pray for friends and family members. Their brother is sick, their co-worker lost their mother, or a friend is going through a divorce. It was much rarer for someone to actually request prayer for themselves.

We take the attitude that I’m okay and you’re okay. But the truth is that not everything is okay. We have difficulty asking for help. We pride ourselves in our self-sufficiency. We fear that by asking for help we are somehow less of a person. We fear being made into a “charity case.”

The truth is that we are all charity cases. The Biblical Greek word for grace is “charis” from which we get the word charity. Grace is charity and it is through grace that God helps us in our need. We have a sin problem and thanks be to God we receive our help through Jesus Christ.

It is time to give up self-sufficiency. Know that it is better than okay to ask for help. We need help. God gave us each other to help each other out. This design goes all the way back to Genesis. God first created man. The next person he created was woman. She was described as a helper. This is why God gives us other people. They are there to help us out.

It can be difficult to admit needing help, but I have found it extremely rewarding. Not only are other people more than willing to help, but oftentimes they begin to open up about how they need help. Being part of a supportive community is so much better than the masquerading community where everyone and everything is okay. It is a beautiful thing to be a part of a community where individuals are willing to make themselves vulnerable to ask for support and then to have such support offered and received.

Just to conclude, I want to say thanks to everyone who has helped me out! Love you all.

Week 5 Monday

Scripture Verses

Questions to Consider

How do you overcome pain (physical, emotional, spiritual) in your life?

How does God use pain for good? How does he overcome pain?

Plan of Action

Think about a difficult or hurtful situation in your life. As you consider this situation, consider what you can change and do differently? Consider how you are contributing to the hurt?

Pray! There is no greater gift God gives us when wrestling with pain and suffering. Ask God to reveal what he wants to reveal to you through the pain.

Reflection

It’s hard to live with suffering. We do whatever we can to avoid it. And when we encounter suffering we look for the quick fix. But in our haste to eliminate the pain we often miss the purpose behind it and the lesson to be learned.

If we have a headache, we take an aspirin. We want pain relief that is quick to eliminate the headache. But in our effort to find the quick fix we miss discovering the cause behind the pain. The cause of the headache might be dehydration, stress, or lack of sleep. The aspirin is the quick fix, but the real need could be to drink more water, eliminate stress, or get more sleep. When we fail to grasp the root cause of our pain, we will often find ourselves soon experiencing the pain again.

I see this a lot as pastor. A church member comes with a crisis. They want a Bible verse to be read or prayer to be prayed that will make it all better. But sometimes we need to wrestle with God and the cause of our pain. We need to go back to the origins of the pain and our own sin to discover how he is refining us.

The pain tells us something is not right. It gives us the opportunity to discover what needs to change. It points us to find our strength and healing in God. Through the pain we are refined. Through it God prepares us for future ministry. Through it we develop greater appreciation for future glory.

Maybe you are struggling in your marriage. You look to read a book on marriage. You go to counseling. You attend a conference. You participate in a couples Bible study. You are looking for that one thing to make everything better. Marriage takes work and effort. There is not a quick fix. A great marriage is not discovered in one thing. Health and healing is approached from all sorts of different angles.

It is true in marriage and in so many other parts of life. Achieving the greatest joys in life are not discovered by following step-by-step instruction manuals. They come through a lot of hard work, sweat, tears, and faith in God. The greater the struggle while on the journey, the greater appreciation upon reaching the destination.

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? Hebrews 12:7 (ESV)

I thank God everyday for my experiences in ministry. Some of those experiences I would never want to encounter again. But those experiences formed me into the pastor I am today. They prepared me to accomplish today what I could never have achieved prior to those experiences.

I know God has some great thing in store for your life. It may be real difficult right now, but listen to his voice through the pain. Let him refine you and prepare you.